SPOV
Tomorrow is another day...
I chuckled to myself as I repeated the words I keep hearing Big Dog mutter every time I talk to him. I know that he's frustrated with the whole situation, and anxious to get on with his new career. That's why I decided to drive the latest batch of searches to the safe house along with a peace offering from Pino's.
The house where Joe and Big Dog were staying looked like every other house in the neighborhood. I always thought that a safe house would have a big gate with guard dogs and ninja hiding spots or something cool like that, but I guess I was wrong. I rang the bell and waited.
Big Dog opened the door and ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, Steph. Please tell me that you have good news. Promise me you're here to tell me that whoever is behind this turned himself in so that I can get the hell out of here."
I giggled and held up the bag for him to see. "Sorry, but I brought meatball subs to make up for it." He stepped aside so that I could come in. I looked around the small living room and frowned. The place looked like it had been used for a Frat party the night before. "What happened?"
Big Dog shook his head an looked at the ceiling. "Joe happened. He's a frigging slob, and I'm done picking up after him."
Joe sauntered out of the back bedroom and angled towards the bag of subs. He shot Big Dog a glare. "It's not like you're doing anything else. I'm probably going to die of old age before you figure this out. I have needs, you know. Keeping me locked up here is cruel and unusual punishment."
Big dog snatched the bag up before Joe could take it. "We've been over this already. I'm not letting Mob Princess Barbie come over here. We can't even say for sure she's not the one behind the hit." This sounded like something they've been arguing about for a while.
Joe turned his attention to me. "Miss me yet, cupcake? You come over to say hi to the boys? They miss you, you know."
I rolled my eyes and tried not to gag. "Really, Joe? Is that the best you can do? You used to at least put a little effort into being charming." He hooked a finger into the top of my shirt, but I slapped his hand away before he could take a peek. I chose to ignore it rather than make a scene. "I came over to give Big Dog some files, and let you know that all the fire damage has been cleaned up at your house."
The plan had been beautifully simplistic. When Joe went before the Judge, he was granted bail on the condition that he stay under house arrest. We brought him to the safe house, and Hector drove Joe's SUV to his house. Before he had a chance to set up the security cameras, someone tossed a molotov cocktail. Fortunately, Whoever threw it missed the window, but the bottle rolled under Joe's SUV. When that exploded, there was some damage to the house as well.
Big Dog walked me to my car, bouncing a couple of ideas around to see if there was some avenue we haven't explored yet. He was reluctant to let me go. He held my door open and said, "If we don't figure this out soon, you won't need to worry about who's trying to hit him. Last night I caught him trying to pry his bedroom window open so that he could go out for a drink. I'm pretty sure that if I spend another week with him, I'll be able to use an insanity defense."
I patted his arm. "The preliminary hearing is tomorrow. At least he'll be out of your hair for a few hours. Ranger is going to come over and pick him up personally. I know it's hard, but I'm sure you'll figure this out. After all, Tomorrow is another day."
o0()0o
I drove from the safe house back to Rangeman. I was going to go up to 5, but I decided that I needed a way to vent. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself in the gym. I shot the treadmill a look of pure loathing, and walked around looking at the other equipment. I don't even really know how most of this stuff works. Finally I walked up to the punching bag and took a swing. It felt surprisingly good to hit something, so I did it again.
A year later, or at least 5 minutes, I was pulling back to throw yet another punch when I felt my arm being restrained. I turned around angrily only to stop when I saw that it was Ranger. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he kissed my knuckles, which were already red and swollen. He raised an eyebrow and said simply, "Babe."
I blew out a breath. "This sucks, you know? I don't want him dead, I just want him out of my life. Between the calls from his mother asking if I know where he is and my mother asking when we're getting back together, I'm going to have a meltdown if I don't do something."
Ranger tucked one of my now sweaty curls behind my ear. "Babe, this will be over soon. Life will go back to normal once it's done."
I leaned my head against his well muscled chest and wrapped an arm around his waist. Listening to his heart beat against my ear calmed me like nothing else. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on top of my head. Maybe I don't want life to go back to normal. Maybe I want something more. Before I could say anything, Ranger stepped back and tilted my chin up. Looking into my eyes, he said, "Why don't we have dinner tomorrow night after Joe's hearing?" Once I agreed, he kissed me and walked away.
Maybe I'll tell him tomorrow, after all, Tomorrow is another day...
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A/N. Thanks Janet for letting us play with your characters.
This chapter is from the imagination of our own Sheila, aka Spiffytgm, isn't she lovely?
